Gone Maybe Gone
by GleeGeneration23
Summary: An AU working of 5x01 in which Laurel is shot and not Pride. While his daughter fights for his life Pride fights to find Rebecca and the team fight to save their leader. Short story. Please Read and Review.
1. Retaliation Hit

**Hi, so here is another new story and my first for this fandom! I am really looking forwards to writing this story and this little twist on 5x01 and I hope you all enjoy.**

 **I intend this story to last five chapters, this is also at the time of publishing my 101st story so I am really looking forwards to hearing what you guys think of this little short story.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine just this little five chaptered plot.**

 **And let me know what you think.**

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Gone Maybe Gone

An AU working of 5x01 in which Laurel is shot and not Pride. While his daughter fights for his life Pride fights to find Rebecca and the team fight to save their leader. Short story.

Chapter 1-Retaliation Hit.

In which Laurel comes homes to surprise her Dad and finds herself surprised instead and Pride walks in on his worst nightmare.

* * *

In all honesty she had not seen it coming. The same way she had never seen the bomb coming that time or the time where she had been dragged into the bushes and had killed that guy, or even the time where she had been in her Dad's bar and that woman had come in pointing a gun at her and she had been convinced that this was it and she was going to die alone in a place she had always felt safe.

Funny thing about that last one. She was pretty sure she that it was happening again, because there had been another blonde woman pointing a gun at her and this one had been looking for her Dad as well and had got her instead. Only this time there had been no Sonja with blood dripping down her face to stop it, there was no longer the luxury of her Dad being there and wrapping his arms around her and shielding her with his body.

This time she had completely been caught unawares.

And now she was lying on the floor of her Dad's apartment bleeding from what she thought was three bullet wounds, blood staining the floors and completely ruining her purple jumper that she had bought new. Her hair was sticky and stained with blood and she could feel each and every breath catch in her throat as the blood seeped past her hands and onto the floor. There was so much of it she could barely catch it through her fingers and it continued to drip out of her, the very essence of what was keeping her alive.

 _Drip. Drip. Drip._

At some point someone was going to come and find her. Her Dad was going to come and find her, he was probably going to go and get changed and find her here covered in blood. Weather or not she would be alive when that happened Laurel Pride had no idea.

There was a pause where she took in another breath. Her Dad didn't even know that she was coming home and he was out celebrating the end of a case and the survival of his career. That was why she was home. That was why she had decided to come home, you know to yell at him for what he had done and then hug him for a long time.

She coughed wetly and she felt a bubble of blood pop at the end of her mouth. She didn't know much about bullet wounds but she was willing to bet that she was near the end right now. Laurel would never see her Dad or her Mom again. She would never get to eat the pasta that were in the fridge in her apartment, she would never get to get married or travel or do anything else that she wanted to do. She would die here on the floor feeling the blood leave her body and her heart stop beating.

It was a strange feeling she had to admit.

Typical Laurel thought bitterly. Typical she would have to start having a debate on philosophy in her head as she lay here dying. That was just typical of her wasn't it? Her brain chose the best moments to detach itself from the rest of her body and begin some sort of inner monologue.

She had dumped her bag and turned around to see the blonde woman standing behind her. She remembered what that woman had said, she would remember it for the rest of what she suspected to be her short life.

"Are you the daughter? Dwayne Pride's daughter?"

And Laurel being the stupid idiot that she was nodded. "Yeah I'm Laurel—"

And that was it, three shots and then she fell backwards hitting her head on the table and all then she was here in her current predicament and she was struggling to breathe and she was pretty sure she was going to die. The pain in her chest when she breathed was only eclipsed by the pain in her head and Laurel could see from the way that her body was spread that the sky from the open window was a clear and deep blue and she could hear the signs of laughter that came from the streets, the sign that as she lay here dying it was clear that people in New Orleans were going about their lives with no idea that hers was ending.

Like her Dad.

Oh god she was going to cry again. She couldn't move to wipe away the tears her whole body hurt too much. At this point Laurel was even looking forwards to death because the one thing that she had heard so much about was that it didn't hurt anymore and she was hoping dearly that this was true because if it was then…

Breathing right now was too hard.

Her body as well was getting colder. Just like in the movies. Huh guess somethings really were true in movies after all. Usually she was a fighter—her Dad had always said she was a fighter, a fighter since birth but right now she didn't want to fight. Laurel had just been shot for crying out loud! All she wanted to do now was close her eyes and hopefully her mind would stop running thoughts left, right and centre.

Peace.

Laurel coughed again feeling more blood tricked down her chin. Her breath rattled in the dead silence and then she finally felt her eyes slid shut. Keeping them open hurt too much and Laurel felt her eyes and then her body drift.

And then she fell into the unconscious and she knew before she slipped under that she was probably not going to wake up again.

* * *

Dwayne had been in the bar with his team celebrating when he decided to go and get changed. He needed to get out of this shirt but if he was being honest with himself he needed a moment to be alone and to gather his thoughts. And to be honest he needed to speak to Laurel and Rita. If they found out (and at some point they would find out) what had happened today then he owed them an explanation.

And perhaps he could get Laurel to come up and see him. It seemed too long since he had seen his daughter.

And after the day…no the year he had, had he really did want to see his daughter. She had barely had time to talk let alone come home what with work and her internship and what he suspected was her relationship though weather or not it was with Orion he didn't know because…well…he hadn't had a chance to speak to her in a while.

There was a pause where he stood there in the prescient turned his house. There was something…off…something off about the whole thing and he couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps he was getting paranoid in his old age? He dropped his jacket to the floor and began to walk across the floor to the stairs and then stopped again as he saw it.

There was a pool of something dark on the floor. It took him a second before he realised that it was blood. For a moment he stood there taking in the sight before his cop instincts kicked in. Oddly enough however he didn't immediately go to his gun or to his phone to call in for back-up. Instead he looked up to see the dripping of the blood was coming from his hardwood floors in what was his bedroom.

Someone was up there. Someone had been shot. Someone was either dead or dying.

And somehow Dwayne found it in himself to walk up the stairs to his bedroom.

(Years later, he would admit that he had a feeling about who was up there but as he walked up the stairs he didn't have a clue)

She was like a little doll crumpled on the floor.

Her face was turned away from his table and her legs were crumpled around her and her hair was flowing down her shoulder and there was so much blood the very air seemed to be saturated with the stench.

And just like that he knew who it was that was lying on his floor covered in blood, her face was as white as snow cheesy as that sounded and her eyes that had once been filled with love and light and laughter and life were closed shut.

It might have been hours that he stared at her on the floor of his bedroom. Staring at the broken body of the girl he loved more than life itself. It might have been seconds he didn't know. He didn't know anything but the fact that he was pretty sure his heart had just been ripped out of his chest and stomped all over until there was nothing left.

Without her there was nothing left.

Because Dwayne Pride knew who that girl was on the floor of his bedroom her body littered with bullet holes.

It was Laurel.

And suddenly when he said it in his mind, when his mind caught up with what his eyes were seeing, that was the moment that Dwayne Pride broke without even knowing it. And he was on his knees next to his daughter's crumpled body, blood still pouring out of her as without even knowing it.

"Laurel…Laurel…Laurel…" he half crooned like she was still a baby and he could put her to sleep like this. How odd it was that Laurel looked like she was sleeping now.

His fingers half fumbled (and he realised dimly that they were shaking) to find the pulse on his daughter's throat. He nearly vomited and he was mess but he had to know…either way.

For a second he couldn't feel anything and an agony that he had never known in that one second swept over him so much so that he thought he was going to pass out. But then he felt it, it was small and weak but the flicker was more than enough.

She was alive.

His daughter was alive.

Laurel was alive.

He all but ripped the blanket off the bed to place pressure on the wound. He had no idea how much blood his daughter had lost but she was alive. It was a vicious circle that he clung too.

She was alive.

That was enough right now.

Fumbling again Dwayne reached for his phone, it slipped a little and he noticed that his hands were covered in blood…in his baby girl's blood…he had to retch back the bile in his throat at that point and focus. He knew who to call. First the Ambulance and then the one person who right now he thought he could trust more than any other person in the world.

Once he hung up the phone on the ambulance and still pressing down his blanket on his daughter who had still not so much as flickered her eyelids he managed to find the second number. How he had any idea to speak he had no idea—he seemed to be moving on auto pilot but he managed to get the person he trusted to handle this investigation on the phone even as the music and the cheering all but made him throw up.

"Christopher, I need you to get here…now…"

He could barely say the words in his head but he knew the tone of his voice had alerted Christopher to the fact that something was terribly wrong right now.

"Just get here..." he said blood covering his hands and he was pretty sure he was crying as well (but none of that mattered if she'd just hold on a bit longer)

"Laurel's been shot"

* * *

 **And there you go, there's the first chapter, I hope to publish sooner rather than later.**

 **Next Chapter-Laurel is rushed to surgery, Rebecca makes her move, Chris gathers the team and they go on full search for Rebecca and Dwayne has the challenge of ringing two important women in his life and telling them what has happened the most important.**

 **And enjoy and please let me know what you think. **


	2. Revelation

**Hi, so here is another chapter, I apologise for the lateness of the update but work and uni has been going strong and driving me mad. There should be another chapter being posted soon, possibly the rest of this story but thanks so much to all who have read and followed so far.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **And let me know what you think, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and this story.**

* * *

Gone Maybe Gone

Chapter 2-Revalation

Laurel is rushed into surgery, Rebecca makes her move, Chris gathers the team together and they go on full search for Rebecca and Dwayne has the challenge of ringing two important women in his life and telling them what has happened to the most important thing in his life.

* * *

When Chris had got the phone call he had started running. Tammy knowing that something was wrong had followed him almost instantly her long legs catching up with him and that just left Sebastian to call Loretta and let her know what was going on because Chris could admit that perhaps dropping the bombshell that Laurel Pride had been shot and then taking off probably didn't help matters.

When he got the office he nearly fell over. He skidded a good full stop and then bashed his leg into a desk. He looked down and noticed that there was a steady dripping of blood coming down from the wood above. He turned his head half a second away and looked at Tammy who had just arrived at the big doors bent over at the speed that she had been running towards. She shot him a look of horror that he knew he returned and having no idea what he was walking into Chris ran up the stairs and then stopped to a halt again for the second time trying to process what had happened. It had been like that when Savannah had died he thought.

Certainly, that had been the last time he remembered feeling as helpless as he did right now. It was always a different process you went through when it was someone you knew.

Pride was on the floor clutching at two parts of his daughter's body—probably where the bullets had torn through her but Chris couldn't see. All he could see was the blood. The room stank of the smell of rust and metal and death and decay and he paused utterly appalled and for once in his life not knowing what to say. How did you go about telling your boss that you were pretty sure his daughter was dead?

But before he could do anything of the sort there was a movement from the corner of the window and all he could see was a woman in a black t-shirt with a blonde pony tail jump from Pride's bathroom over the balcony and down into the street again.

Chris reached for his gun and stalked forwards a little, Tammy right behind him and even Pride looked away from his daughter where he had been crooning something to her to stare at what had happened. But Chris knew who it was.

Rebecca.

"Rebecca" he said once to Pride and then (though he hated the idea of leaving his boss in such a state) he turned and ran down the stairs and back into the street dimly aware of Tammy behind him and the ambulance pulling up sharply at the door.

An ambulance was here though he told himself as he had to dodge happy party goers. That had to mean something didn't it? Either way they would know if they were going after Rebecca for either attempted murder or murder.

God only knew what Pride would be like when confronted with either of those two options and when the shock wore off and he looked around and saw what happened. He ran down the street gun out and wishing for the first time in his life that the streets of New Orleans were dead. As a cop in the city that (like New York) never seemed to sleep you were used to running through crowds and dodging around people more often or not that were drunk but for once he wished that the streets were as dead as they had been in the aftermath of Katrina. It would make getting a shot on this woman so much easier.

And then Rebecca ran straight into the path of an oncoming car and that just turned the situation from bad to worse. Tammy was behind him but she was working crowd control, Rebecca it seemed was not above taking hostages and using chaos to her advantage and the last thing either one of them wanted right now was to start opening fire with no idea about how to control the crowd. It would be a death sentence to a lot of people never mind them.

Chris had to give her some credit as much as he revolted against the idea. She got straight back up clutching her ribs with a look on her face that was so determined if she had been anyone else he would have been impressed. The car driver got out naively thinking that she needed help and probably horrified even though it was not his fault in the slightest. Chris waved his hand in a desperate attempt to get him to stay where he was and knowing that he couldn't take a shot until he did. Otherwise…he shuddered just at the thought of it. But that second of hesitation cost him too much and the next thing he knew Rebecca had thrown the concerned driver out of her way and then jumped into the car. Chris fired one shot at the tire. It missed but it had enough people running and screaming. He sighed. Honestly he could have took that shot but he had to admit that he didn't like the odds that someone wouldn't get hurt.

There was a pause where he stood there and he was dimly aware that Tammy was standing next to him breathing in and out her chest heaving. There was another heartbeat and then Tammy spoke. "Sebastian texted. The ambulance arrived and he and Loretta are driving Pride. Laurel has a pulse and she seems to be alive but for how long they don't know. There's a lot of blood at the crime scene but as soon as he drops Loretta off he's coming back to help us. Pride's trying to get a hold of Rita and Linda but…"

She gave a little choked off sob and turned her head away and Chris took that to mean that Laurel was worse than she actually looked. If Pride was ringing his ex wife then he supposed she must be and he had to turn away least he vomit on the ground. He had known Laurel as long as he had known her father and he had watched her turn into a gangly teenager into a beautiful young woman. God knows what would happen if she…

No. He wasn't going to think like that.

"What are we going to do?" Tammy asked as the two of them set off walking. There was no need to set up a perimeter. Local PD was already there and they had been at enough crime scenes with NCIS New Orleans to know what to do. They needed to head back to the office and figure out just what the hell they were going to do next.

He turned to look at her and then saw it in her eyes. She was looking at him like he was a leader and he realised that to her right there and then he probably was. He was the oldest member of the team with the exception of Pride and he had been there the longest. Sebastian was a close second but he had only been in the field this year and he was still new at the ropes. There was a reason that Pride had called him first there had to be. Pride was expecting him to lead the team and he had to do that for his friend and for the girl that he considered a little sister whose blood had created a pool near his desk and was stained on his shoe.

Chris took a deep breath. This was not how he wanted to lead an investigation. In fact if this was the price of leadership then he was perfectly content to spend the rest of his career taking orders. Tammy watched him silently as if she understood all of this perfectly and didn't know what to say to him that would make it easier.

"We need to get back to the office and start working on the crime scene. We need a computer. Patton's got to start working on locating Rebecca. She's gonna need medical attention soon enough once she comes down from her adrenaline. She's going to go to a hospital or a clinic soon enough so we should make sure everyone has her photo. For once I think we can use the media. And…and maybe we should reach out to Gibbs. McGee can help us dig up information on Rebecca alongside Patton and I'm sure once he finds out about Laurel, Gibbs won't mind"

* * *

They continued walking in silence for a very long time. Chris didn't know what was worse, the fact that Loretta hadn't called or if she had. Either way he knew at some point they would have to figure out if they were charging Rebecca with murder or not…and he hoped against hope that it was the not option.

Laurel had not looked good. He swallowed again feeling sick. Now was not the time. Pride didn't need Chris to fall apart. He needed him to lead this investigation while he was with his daughter. So that, he reminded himself, was what he had to do.

Tammy nodded pleased to have a plan that she could grasp onto. That was the thing Chris liked about her. She didn't ask too many questions just got on with the task at hand. She knew what had to be done. She touched his arm once and then disappeared up the stairs probably to go and yell at whoever was up there that they needed this evidence processed pronto. She and Sebastian could do that.

He walked into Patton's office. Something in his face (and he would be the first to admit that he didn't know what he looked like in this moment) must have warned the other guy to not say anything because the question died on his lips.

"Gibbs. Washington. NCIS. Now" he said each word a sentence in it's own right and Patton nodded fingers already flying in an attempt to make sure that the connection was up and running. Chris ran a hand through his hair and wondered if Gibbs would consider it unprofessional if he for some unknown reason threw up halfway through asking for help.

Because that had been a lot of blood that had been dripping out of Laurel Pride's body hadn't it?

* * *

Dwayne had been forced into a seat by Loretta. He had rung Linda from the ambulance but he'd had no idea what he had said and his eldest friend and colleague had simply taken the phone out of his hand and filled in his ex-wife and then Rita in on what had happened. Dwayne had let the phone go, his hand had held limply by his side and even now hours after the fact he had no idea how he had managed to get to this hard plastic seat or even how his feet had moved.

Loretta was sat next to him. Weather she was aware of the agony that was his mind right now or not she didn't say anything simply rested her hand on his and occasionally getting up to ask the nurse a question. The doctor had come out—or one of them had to give an update two hours into the surgery and Dwayne had listened without hearing much. Loretta had asked the questions. All he had heard was that his daughter was not dead.

He refused to hear the unspoken yet.

"What did he say?" he asked after the doctor had left. Wow. Was that really what his voice sounded like? Loretta turned to him her face creased in worry.

"He said that Laurel is a fighter"

She saw the look on his face and elaborated.

"Dwayne it's a long process, she's cracked her skull when she fell and at least one of the bullet has nicked an artery and another is somewhere near the heart so they have to be careful, the concussion means they have to watch brain activity too. It's complicated even without the blood loss. But they are right, Laurel's young with a healthy body and she's a fighter. She'll pull through this"

He didn't hear her.

He didn't hear anything.

He looked down and saw his hands were still covered in blood. His daughters blood. For a second he stared at them and then he had to look away. He was gone, he was lost in his own mind and all he wanted was to know weather or not tonight was going to be the night he was going to enter his own agony.

Either way he would know soon enough.

 _Please._ He thought again. _Please. Please. Please._

But he didn't know if anyone was listening.

* * *

 **And there you go, I hope you enjoy and I will endeavour to update as soon as possible.**

 **Next Chapter-Loretta considers what happens if worst comes to worst. Linda and Rita come face to face and Laurel finds herself in a strange place that confounds her beliefs. Again still cannon compliment to the episode.**


	3. Give Em Hell Kid

**Hi, so here is another chapter. There are only two more chapters left of this story and I hope to have them both published before new year. I apologise for the lateness of this chapter and the previous one but I have had computor issues as well as a horrible cold and therefore my updating has been caught in the crossfire.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

 **And I will try and update sooner rather than later.**

* * *

Gone Maybe Gone

Chapter 3-Give Em Hell Kid.

Loretta considers what happens if the worst comes to worst. Linda and Rita come face to face and Laurel finds herself in a strange place that confounds her beliefs. Again still mostly canon compliment to the episode.

* * *

Loretta sat down on the hard chair and once again spared a thought to whoever had designed chairs such as this. She hoped that they would suffer the same back pain that she had been suffering in the three hours that she had been waiting here. Laurel had come out of her surgery and was waiting in the recovering room but Loretta suspected that there was a reason why the doctor had been holed up in the room and had not come out and told them that they could go in.

Dwayne had been getting restless.

Dwayne had been getting more and more restless with each passing second. Unsurprisingly he had not been too impressed with the doctor's instruction that he stay there while they ran some more tests and he had been asking Loretta all sorts of questions in between mutinous mutterings about what he would like to do with the doctor if he got him alone in a room for five minutes.

Loretta took that in silently. There was no point telling her oldest friend right now that she had not worked on any living corpses for over a decade and a half. There was no point telling Dwayne anything other than that she had a strong believe that Laurel would be alright. But she had to admit that three shots to the torso and a good hard knock on the head where she had fallen would not do Laurel any favours. There was a pause where she tried to run over the facts and the medical information as much as she knew them. Training to be a doctor did not go away overnight regardless of weather or not you practiced on the dead or the living.

She had to think, three shots and one of them had nicked an artery. Another blood vessel in Laurel's chest had been shattered and the second bullet had landed somewhere between her ribs and that would have done a dangerous bit of damage. And Loretta did not even want to think about the time frame that Laurel had spent alone with the blood dripping out of her body. Time was muscle and muscle was time as far as shootings were concerned and Loretta knew, she knew that Laurel had been alone for a time that might be just too long for her to fight back.

Oh but she wanted her to fight back. She wanted Laurel to fight back tooth and nail and for all her talk to Pride she believed that Laurel would put up her best fight. She was a strong kid who had lived through a bombing, an attack, a further attempt on her life, her parents divorcing and a full time college experience complete with all of the hangovers and stupid mistakes that college kids made when they were away from home for the first time.

But how long could Laurel fight for. How long had her brain been active while she had been bleeding all over her fathers floor? And how long would she be able to fight this mammoth battle. There was a pause where Loretta tried to imagine what life without Laurel would be like. The thought of that made her heart heave and her hands go all clammy and her fingers shake so violently that she could feel the tremors in her body so hard she could barely stand. There was a pause where she sat there and had to get her breathing under control. The last thing she told herself sternly, Dwayne needed was her falling apart. He was holding himself together by what Loretta suspected was sheer force of will alone.

How long could the doctors keep them? Unless…unless it was brain damage.

Dwayne had apparently come to the same conclusion.

"It's brain damage isn't it?" he asked finally his voice so horse and dry that she had to struggle to hear him. There was a pause where she tried to think about what was going to happen and she bit her bottom lip until she could feel an old cut break open and she could feel the pain. She knew Dwayne was waiting on the answer to a question that they both knew deep down the answer too.

"I don't know" Loretta said because that was the truth. "I don't know weather or not her brain was compromised. That is something that you've got to ask—Dwayne if it is, I should tell you that as a medical professional I would give—" she was cut off by what she was going to say (which had been that she had not seen many miracles when it came to brain dead patients) by the sound of running footsteps and then the cry that was half strangled out of a throat that she knew very well of…

"Dwayne!"

Linda Pride had arrived. Dwayne stood up and with a force that Loretta was surprised Dwayne didn't fall over from his ex wife crashed into him. The two of them stood there and hugged for a long second as if they were the only thing that kept the other one standing which Loretta supposed was true enough. Dwayne and Linda had had as amicable divorce as far as some of the ones she had seen were capable off and they had always but their daughter first. This time they were clutching at each other as if they were still in their honeymoon phase and their daughter was still a little girl who toddled after them and not a grown woman in a hospital bed with bullet holes ripped through her.

Loretta had to look away least the emotion got to her. She was not a woman to be bowled over by a sentimental moment but right now she was having a hard time trying to keep her emotions in check but there was always the chance that she would break down if she let this continue and that was the last thing either one of her friends needed. Besides at some point the team was bound to call her weather or not they needed her or if they wanted a check in. Sebastian had a habit after all of letting his imagination get the better of him on a good day. His senses right now must be in overdrive.

There was a second bang and then more running footsteps and Loretta peered around the corridor as Dwayne and Linda turned around. It was Rita. Loretta had to force herself not to roll her eyes. Of course Dwayne would invite his girlfriend and his ex-wife and not inform the other (if the look on their faces were anything to be judged by) to this. He would want his friends and his family around him when he heard the news but he was still Dwayne Pride even in the best of circumstances. A brilliant detective but completely clueless when it came to some facts.

Rita skidded to a halt and Loretta stood up to greet the woman who had clearly got on a plane and travelled hard and fast from one state to the other without even stopping so that she could be by Dwayne's side. Loretta was about to open her mouth when there was movement from Laurel's hospital room. All four of them stiffened. Pride and Linda were gripping each other as if the touch of the other parent were all that were keeping them standing and Loretta moved to take Rita's hand needing the comfort as much as the other woman did. The four of them stood there and Loretta was aware that whatever came out of the Doctor's mouth she had to relay to three very angry people with guns right now (and a supremely good hacker) as soon as possible.

 _Oh please_ she thought to herself as the doctor came closer his face grim.

 _Oh please, Laurel if you can hear me please keep going. Keep fighting. Give Em Hell Kid._

* * *

Sebastian had felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he nearly dislodged the files on his desk in his effort to get to his phone. It buzzed once and he noticed before his screen went dark that there was a single text message from Loretta.

He held up his hand as his screen went back on and he fumbled his way through his password and found the messages app as everyone fell silent.

He read the message once, twice, three times before he remembered to breathe again. He looked up to see Patton gripping the arms of his chair and Tammy and Chris gripping each other's arms. He took in their expressions for a split second longer than he should have done and then he grinned letting the relief shine through his face so that they could all see.

"Laurel is still alive" he said.

Everyone took a breath. Tammy sat down as if her knees had gone out from under her. Chris swore once and then turned his face away and Patton exhaled loudly banging his hand on the arm of his chair in glee.

Sebastian couldn't help it. He grinned too. Still alive wasn't the best thing they'd wanted to hear but still alive was better than nothing.

That meant that they had something to hope for.

* * *

Laurel woke up with a gasp.

She was on the floor of the very same room she had been shot at what…hours before? She knew because her whole body was aching. That was strange. If she was dead, wasn't heaven supposed to be…you know? Pain free?

She forced herself to get to her feet and walk down the stairs. She was not bleeding, nothing hurt and she was fine. She was walking down the stairs into the main office area and she looked around. There was something off about this room that she was in. There was something dark and twisted about the room…no the world where she was standing and she paused for a second trying to take in the surroundings.

Also she marvelled at the fact that it was easy to breathe. After so much time spent on the floor upstairs counting each breath that she took and feeling it press against her ribs she found it a marvel that nothing hurt anymore. God this world was amazing. There was no pain and no noise. It was so much better than the regular world where she had been shot and she had bled all over the floor.

She moved near the side of the office near where Tammy's desk was and peered around to stare at the floor. There was no mark of where her blood had been dripping over the grey floor either. There was no hypnotic dripping sound that had been both soothing and painful all at the same time. Laurel raised an eyebrow and then walked back to the middle of the room her hands on her hips and tried to think about what she was going to do next.

And more importantly just where she was.

As far as she was concerned that there was only one place where everything didn't hurt and where the world was sunny and bright and she was alone as if waiting for someone.

And then suddenly Laurel understood. She understood it perfectly. She understood it so well that her knees went out from under her and she forced herself to sit down on her Dad's desk and take a few deep breaths in as if she needed to.

She was dead.

Laurel Pride was dead.

She was dead.

It was a heady thing to get your brain around she realised. Being dead. Honestly it was so difficult. More difficult than she thought it would be. But then again she hadn't given much thought to that…

And there Laurel was, lost in her own head again and unable to concentrate one thought on the one thing, just like she had done when she was shot. She was dead. That part of the story was over. There was no room or reason for her to worry now.

"Oh your not dead" said a voice from behind her and she turned around to see someone who she thought she would never see again—at least not in this life and she paused staring in shock.

Standing there was her grandmother. Her father's mother who had died before she was born. She stood there watching her and then she forced herself to her feet.

"Not dead" she repeated stupidly grasping at the only words that she could remember. There was nothing better in this moment than words. Words where something that she could cling too because right now the world had gone upside down the second she had walked into the office to see if her Dad was there to surprise him from coming home earlier.

"No" her grandmother said sitting down on the edge of a desk. "You're not dead yet Laurel. Weather you do end up dead however, well that is entirely up to you"

* * *

 **And yeah, some points have changed from the episode but the plot still remains the same.**

 **If i dont get to update again i wish you all a very happy Christmas and a very happy and safe 2019.**

 **Next Chapter-Laurel confronts her new reality. Chris and the rest of the team figure out Rebecca's plan. Pride must regroup for an assault.**


	4. Pros And Cons

**Hi, so here is another chapter. Following this should be the final chapter to this story. I said I would have it up by New Year and I am proud to say I have done.**

 **Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **And yes I know that some things in this story are different than depicted in NCIS New Orleans but I have stated that from the beginning so...**

* * *

Gone Maybe Gone

Chapter 4-Pros And Cons.

Laurel confronts her new reality. Chris and the rest of the team find out Rebecca's plan. Pride prepares and regroups for an assault on the hospital.

* * *

For a second she couldn't speak she could only stare. And then when she found her voice again she could only say what she was thinking.

"Are you insane?"

Her Grandmother laughed. Actually laughed and Laurel had a second to take in what was going on and then she shook her head. Laurel had the sudden feeling that she had jumped head first down some imaginary rabbit hole. Things like this only happened in movies or in books-they didn't happen in real life. They most certainly didn't happen to her in real life anyway.

"Laurel sweetheart. Right now your at a crossroads. Your body has been through a lot. If you wanted to give up nobody would blame you and I imagine you could move on beyond this place to somewhere better if you believe in that. I truly doubt you have done anything to go someplace worse anyway and then that's that. But if you wanted to go back…to your bed, to your life and to what's awaiting then your in the right place for that too."

There was a pause as Laurel took that in. At first she opened her mouth to demand that she go back but she found that she couldn't say the words just yet. Because what was there to go back to? Oh there was her mother and father she knew—that was the main reason. They both deserved to see Laurel fight but then…but then what….? What else was there. She had no relationship, a few friends and a life but not a great one. Not the ones you read about in the newspapers on saw on the television. She was just Laurel Pride. She was just ordinary.

She didn't deserve to have a debate about weather or not she lived or died. She should just do that. Live or die. To her it was easy.

But did she want to live? Did she want to go back to all of that pain? Because her life in the last few hours had been nothing but that. Pain. Pain. Pain. She had bled and coughed and felt the burn of blood in her lungs. She had suffered and there was no way the drugs had worked as well as they were supposed to and she was willing to bet she was looking at months of physio therapy before she was back to normal—if she was back to normal. She had no idea what kind of state her life was going to be when or if she did go back and she found that she didn't immediately jump at the chance to go back to all of that pain.

She sat back down on the desk folding her arms and staring out the window thinking hard. She had a choice here she supposed, her Grandmother said she had a choice and she was damn well going to think it through. The obvious was no longer the thing she wanted. Living meant pain. Laurel thought that no matter how selfish it was she had, had enough pain—bombs, attacks in the woods, shootouts with people she'd never met, that phone call from Loretta that her father was dead but not really dead and then the whole Clearwater debacle that she had felt the ramifications from even when she wasn't in town. No—she was tired of pain and suffering and blood dripping out of her.

But did she want to die?

Did she want to die? No.

She wanted to be married with a nice house and kids and a career in the music industry. She wanted to make something off herself other than the girl who had been shot in her Dad's bedroom by some killer after him.

And then as she was thinking off it the answer came to her. She was afraid.

She was afraid of the pain. And as soon as she thought it she thought that it was childish. But there it was.

"I just want to sit here for a while" she said finally not looking around to see if anyone was still with her.

There was the sound as her grandmother scraped out a chair and sat down.

"Take your time sweetheart and figure out what you want"

Laurel wiped her eyes furiously and tried not to think about it. She wasn't in pain right now and that was enough. She was going to soak up this pain free feeling for as long as possible—until she had to make a decision or until one was made for her.

But she had a feeling that, that plan was only going to buy her that much time.

She closed her eyes and tried very hard not to cry.

* * *

"Rebecca's after Pride" Chris said finally.

They had just found out Rebecca's identity and the three of them were sat watching the screen. Patten had gone to try and dig up more info but Chris, Tammy and Sebastian were still sat there staring at the screen trying to figure out the next stage of a plan that they couldn't see coming. That they had not seen coming until the last second.

Tammy turned to look at him. Three days of no sleep and nothing but coffee was beginning to catch up on them. Her hair was lank and tied behind her ears and she looked dead on her feet. Sebastian didn't look much better. They had gone from one massive investigation straight into another with no food and no sleep. Coffee was keeping them going and Chris knew as the closest thing to a leader they had right now he should encourage them to eat and sleep for a bit but he couldn't. The thought of eating right now made him want to throw up and his stomach was in knots. And anyway where could they sleep? Upstairs was a damn crime scene and downstairs wasn't much better.

"We knew that" she deadpanned. But Chris shook his head feeling rather sluggish.

"No, she's still after him. Laurel was there Tammy don't you get it. Pride's bedroom, Pride's office, Pride. It's all been Pride. Think about it Laurel didn't tell anyone she was coming back, it was a complete surprise to all of us and I bet it was a surprise to her. She was waiting for Pride. She was still waiting. We've been looking at this like Laurel was the target, hurting Pride for Pride hurting her but she wasn't. It helps but…Rebecca doesn't care about Laurel. Laurel could still live. Her husband isn't."

"So Laurel was in the way." Tammy said her eyes sparking back to life.

"Yes" Sebastian said standing up and looking enthused. "She waited. I didn't think much of it at the time but she waited. Why wait if you've just done what your whole hearts desire is? Because she was waiting for Pride to come back so she could shoot him too? But then…why didn't she?"

"Because she didn't have time" Chris said knowing it to be true. "Because Pride would have shot her the second he saw her—and he rang me. He saw Laurel and then he rang me and then an ambulance—or he rang an ambulance before me—when he saw the blood and knew someone was hurt. She wouldn't have had time to shoot him. She had to run when she saw us coming because she knew that the whole place would be searched. And Pride…Pride's a good shot. I bet you she wanted to see if shooting Laurel would fill that hole of grief for her. And how much do you want to bet it didn't?"

"So she still feels like she has a job to finish?" Tammy asked looking between them.

"Yeah which means this is not over"

"Pride" Sebastian said finally. Chris nodded reaching for his draw where he had thrown his gun into when he had gotten back to the office what felt like hours ago. He ignored the spot of now congealed blood that had alerted his friend to the nightmare that they were in now and swallowed.

"Which means this is going to end at the hospital. Get Patten to call Pride or Loretta depending on what…just...oh come on"

Not bothering to check weather or not they were behind him or weather or not they had made sense of the garbled talk that had flown out of his mouth he took off towards his car at a run.

He opened the car door as Tammy flew in behind him into the passenger seat. Sebastian after what felt like hours but was probably ten seconds climbed in the back behind him and they were off—racing towards the hospital as fast as the car (and the people rapidly clearing the streets) allowed them too.

* * *

Loretta watched as her friend hung up the phone his jaw set for something. Linda who had been leaning on her arm her hand encased in her daughters and Rita who had been sat in a chair near Dwayne both watched him their eyes weary. Loretta straightened up too. Her back was aching and she was still in the clothes she had worn to the bar though she had long since kicked off the heels.

"What's going on" she said speaking for all three of them. Laurel's monitor beeped again letting out it's comforting noise. Dwayne turned to face them his jaw set in a way she hadn't seen since the Hamilton debacle that had seen her forced to identify what she had thought were the charred remains of her oldest friend.

"Rebecca is coming here" was all he said. "Chris is pretty sure she is and he and the rest of the team are going to put the hospital into lockdown. I'm gonna start searching but I want the three of you to stay here"

Loretta stared at him appalled into silence. She had never heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong in her life. Honestly had he learnt nothing over the course of the years? He needed his team, his team needed him. Why the fuck wasn't he waiting for them.

She opened her mouth to tell him that but Linda beat her too it.

"Is she coming to kill Laurel?" she asked her voice soft and on the verge of collapsing. Dwayne's expression softened somewhat as he took in the look on his ex-wife's face.

"No" he said finally. "She's here to kill me"

Loretta closed her eyes as she fought down the urge to explode. Rita however had no such problems which was good because right now Rita might be the only one to get through to him.

"Are you mad? You need to stay here where its safe! What if she comes here are we to fight her with Laurel's charts? Dwayne!"

"It's ok" Dwayne said missing the point completely (again) Loretta thought. "The hospital will soon be on lockdown and you'll all be safe. And it's safer for Laurel this way. If I can draw Rebecca away from this room then I can finish this on my own. She's the last link in this whole sordid tale. Once she's put down then I can sleep better"

And then he was gone.

Rita turned to face Loretta her face white. Linda lay her head back down on her arm again. Loretta shrugged. She didn't know what to say. Pride had always been a law unto himself since she had met him.

There was a pause as the three woman stared at each other and Loretta decided that she should probably call Chris and let him know that his leader was on what everyone thought was a suicide mission when there was a sudden noise. Laurel's machines had started to beep again fast and furious.

Suddenly the room was full of doctors. Linda and Rita were pushed back and the three of them were against the wall watching.

Laurel was flatlining.

Laurel was dying.

* * *

 **And yeah there it is.**

 **Next Chapter- Laurel has a decision to make, Pride exacts his revenge, Rebecca puts up one last fight and life begins to slowly return to some semblance of normality. Final Chapter.**


	5. Never Say Goodbye

**Hi, so here is the final chapter! I am so glad to have this done before New Years! I wish you all a very happy and safe 2019!**

 **I hope I will come back to this fandom soon but in the meantime thank you to all of you who have read this little fanfic-I hope you have enjoyed.**

 **Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.**

 **Please Read and Review.**

* * *

Gone Maybe Gone

Chapter 5-Never Say Goodbye

Laurel has a decision to make, Pride exacts his revenge, Rebecca puts up one last fight and life begins to slowly return to some semblance of normality. Final Chapter.

* * *

Creeping along the corridor there was a pause where he stood there and took a breath. Now was not the time for Dwayne to fall apart. He had a job to do and his daughter was depending on him doing it. She needed him put together not falling apart. This was a fight between him and Rebecca and now it had to end. Laurel had just been cannon fodder to the woman—in the way. In hindsight it could have been any of his team in there. It could have been Rita.

It had not though. It had been his daughter.

And for that Rebecca had to die.

He had chosen this route as the first thing he had seen on the security guards desk. An injured Rebecca would be moving slowly not quick. Her body had not had the chance to rest so she wouldn't want to climb many stairs but she also wouldn't want to use an elevator and get stuck and come face to face with a SWAT team on the other side. She would need the long way—the long routes of this corridor that span all around the place like a great snake and she would move slowly allowing him time to catch up with her.

Then the question when they came face to face was aim and Dwayne liked to think that he was actually a pretty decent shot when it came to aim and could fire well, even now in the mood that he was in.

He turned his phone off. This had started out between him and Rebecca's lover or husband or whoever he had been—this had to finish with him and Rebecca. Both of them blamed the other for losing their loved one. Both of them were prepared to die to avenge or keep that loved one safe. And therefore that was what made this the best of the best of shootouts because they had nothing to loose either way. Because if Laurel were to suddenly flatline…if she was to give up the fight that she had engaged in all this time…

Then he didn't want to live anyway.

There was sudden movement to his left and he had the good sense to throw himself backwards into the side of the wall before the gunshots started. It was her it had to be. Chris or any of the rest of his team would let him know instantly that it was NCIS shooting. Rebecca had no such security.

He waited until there was a pause and then fired back. There was a good amount of dust coming out of the way of the wall and he paused breathing in the smell of gunfire. There was more firing and he fired back reaching for the second clip of bullets he always kept. Sooner or later one of them had to tire out or backup had to arrive. He was hoping for the last option if he was being honest with himself but he was prepared for all or nothing.

And then the moment came to him. It was a clear moment where he saw the flash of blonde step out. Rebecca was forcing the confrontation with him. He saw the bloodied and bruised face of the woman he now hated above all others and he took a breath. There was too much at stake for him to get this wrong. He had to get it right. Laurel's life might depend on him getting this one little shot right.

He loaded up his gun and then went for the shot. He caught her in the arm and then she twisted coming out fully. There was the sound of a bullet whizzing a little too past his head for comfort but then there was another sound, a groan, he kept shooting and he watched as Rebecca's body twisted with the impact of the bullets and then slowly she fell to the ground her hair falling around her blood pouring from her body. And just like that the rivalry between him and the woman who had shot his daughter and tried to fit him up for murder was over.

The door to his left slammed open and Dwayne turned around gun raised to see Christopher coming through the door Tammy running behind him her hair flying her face white. Christopher looked at Rebecca and then back at him again but Tammy didn't even give the woman on the floor a glance, her eyes were on him and suddenly Dwayne had a feeling he was about to enter a new private agony.

"Laurel's flatlining" Tammy said. It was all she had to say.

"Go" Chris said his arms outstretched. "We can take care of—" but he didn't hear the end of that sentence. Instead he was running towards the ward his daughter was in pushing his aching body towards complete collapse so he could get there as fast as he could. He felt like being sick again—everything that he had been feeling in the last few hours was crashing down among him and it was all he could do to keep his feet moving one in front of the other.

* * *

Laurel heard the beeping even from where she was still sat. She turned around jumping to her feet and looking around. Her grandmother did not say anything instead she chose to look at her hands but Laurel had a feeling she knew what was coming—she had asked to wait her to think about weather or not she lived or died—not that she had done much thinking about it when she did wonder…and now the decision was taken out of her hands and she was dying.

It was a sobering thought.

And as soon as she thought it she realised that she wanted to go back. Odd. She hadn't felt like this before but now she did. She felt like she had to go back and finish…well…go back and live. Because it was obvious now wasn't it? Of course she wanted to live. She wanted to live and love and learn.

She turned again.

"I need to go back" she said finally after working the words into her throat. "I need to go back…I want to go back…"

Her grandmother nodded her fingers pressed together as if she too had expected this.

Laurel could hear her mother and her father, Rita, Loretta everyone in her head and it hurt…it hurt to listen to it. All she wanted to do was make their pain stop—she had been kidding herself thinking that sitting here was better than making a decision. She had known her decision but had chickened out scared of the pain like some kind of coward. Laurel Pride was no coward. She wanted to live.

"Well then my dear" her grandmother said smoothing down her skirts as she too stood up.

"Until we meet again"

"Eh—Grandma? How do I…?"

"Just run dear…just run"

And Laurel suddenly knew what she had to do. Turning she ran towards the doors of the NCIS New Orleans office pushing open the wooden doors think and heavy. She didn't look behind her to see her dead one more time, she ran towards the living and as soon as she hit open air instead of seeing the street she saw nothing but that bright white light that she had seen on TV and always thought was fake.

And then Laurel didn't think any more.

Because Laurel was gone.

* * *

Tammy had been watching her hand over her mouth. Chris had his arm around her side and neither one of them could move. Laurel was still flatling and Tammy might not be a medical expert but she had a feeling that this long without brain function might not be the best. That she thought to herself was a fucking understatement. She bit her bottom lip so hard she felt the skin split and the blood on her lips. She didn't care about the nip of pain.

And then just when she was about to give up there it was. The beep that showed Laurel Pride was still alive. Loretta wrapped Rita in her arms as the two women began to cry. Pride and his ex were intertwined so tightly Tammy couldn't look at them. Chris let out some very shaky swear words and then ran a hand over his face as Sebastian came running down the hallway. Tammy didn't let him even open his mouth—she just threw herself into his arms and allowed him to hug her. Her whole body was shaking as if she had just come over some kind of illness. Her knees felt weak. Chris's arms were around them both and they stood there in some sort of bizarre hug feeling the after effects of this mission that had been the toughest they had felt yet. Tammy would have rather taken ten rounds with Hamilton that take a case like this one again.

But none of that mattered.

Because Laurel Pride was alive.

And they had done their job.

* * *

Two Weeks Later. 

Laurel was board.

She was still confined to a hospital bed even though she could sit up on her own without her side splitting in two. She had woken up to see everyone around her and after the few disorientating days and the hugs and the tears she found that she was going to live.

Only issue was that she was board out of her mind and everything still hurt.

And that was just the beginning. She had been right in thinking there would be months of physio and retraining and months before she could go back to living an ordinary life. Her mom had gone to grab her some things from her apartment and Rita had sorted things out with her employers so it wasn't like work was an issue either. It was just the lack of anything…anything to do.

And that was before you got to needing someone to help you take a shower. The first time she had in the hospital's small bathroom she had been mortified asking for help. Fortunately Tammy had helped and that had been a godsend because nothing was more embarrassing than asking for help to get in the shower.

But still she was happy. She had at the end of the day chosen to live. Death was easier, the far easier option but she had not taken that one. She had chosen this pain and this confinement to the bed and she had better get used to it.

Or that was what she told herself when she was alone at night with nothing to stare at but the walls of this damn room.

She forced herself to sit up every morning. Her Dad was her only constant visitor and she depended on him for things that the doctor said she wasn't allowed. Important things in the grander scheme of things such as coffee and chocolate and warm cheese rolls.

For the first time in her life—when it came to hospital cooking—she was glad that her father had such profound feelings about food and ingredients that should go in them—otherwise she was pretty sure by now she would have starved.

The door opened to her hospital room and her Dad came in.

"Music major I told you about sitting up by yourself…the doctor said that you'd pull something…" and there he was with the fussing about her stiches and other things. It would have been nice if after the first day it didn't set her teeth on edge.

"I know" she said finally wincing. "Did you bring it?"

"Are you sure you'll alright?"

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Yes Dad, I'm sure. Please can I have it?"

The 'it' she was describing was her coffee and slice of chocolate cake from that place her Dad deemed in the Quarter as 'too expensive to keep open'. But she had been dreaming about this damn thing all day and she would be damned if she let something such as stiches get in the way.

"Your lucky I love you music major" her Dad said fondly pressing a kiss into her hair. Laurel thought about the choices she had and she had made and her smile was sincere when she thought the truth.

"Yeah" she said smiling and blinking back the tears that came so easily (she blamed the painkillers).

"Yeah Dad I am"

* * *

 **And there it is, I hope you have enjoyed and once again thank you all. **


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